(About)experience and (re)existence of homeless people in the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The present study aimed to understand the vulnerability processes of homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic in the city of XXX, Amazonas, based on Ayres' three dimensions: individual, social and programmatic. This is a qualitative study carried out through interviews with ten homeless people welcomed by Centro Pop, in XXX. The results pointed to pre-existing problems in the pandemic context in the three dimensions, and that worsened in this scenario. The vulnerabilities present in the daily lives of these people also interacted in a dynamic, imbricated way, so that one element influenced or agonized another, in more than one dimension, simultaneously. Difficulties in acquiring food, low accessibility of information about the disease, limitations in practicing preventive measures, as well as experiences of neglect, prejudice and violence suffered daily, to which substance abuse is associated, were observed. Still, the care actions offered by public management to limit the spread of the virus among this population proved to be scarce, especially with regard to mental health.